Final Fantasy Explorers Review by: zanderlex - 8.8/10
Time To ExploreOf all of the Final Fantasy games that I have ever played, there are only two so far that I have actually liked, and it just so happens that this is one of them, with the other one being Final Fantasy X/X-2 Remaster for the Vita. I’m not entirely a fan of the standard Final Fantasy battle system because the format and various terms and whatnot always confuse me and take a really long time for me to get used to, but when it comes to this game, everything is very similar to the Monster Hunter series, which happens to be one of my favorite game series’. It’s a really fun game in general as well, probably one of my favorite 3DS games, and I’m really glad that I decided to give it a shot.
GRAPHICS: 8/10
The graphics are okay, it looks a lot like what you would expect from a standard 3DS game and there’s a ton of details all over the place. The characters, all of the creatures, and various aspects of the scenery all have a good amount of detail and look really nice. There are a few times where the animations don’t look like they sync as well or flow as smoothly as they should, but the game is still really colorful and fun to look at, and looks smooth when it matters the most. It’s a good looking game and for a grade, this aspect is going to get an 8 out of 10.
SOUND: 9/10
There’s no legit voice acting in the game, but for every time you talk to someone, there’s a specific sound that plays based on each character, could be something like a word or some other sound that portrays that they are speaking to you, but that’s all there is, beyond that you have to read all of the text yourself. Aside for that, the various battle sounds and scenery noises work well with the layout of the game and the best part of the sound is the music. Some of the songs in the soundtrack are really really well done, I love the main theme and the song titled Intercepting Blade, which I believe is for attacking large monsters is a pretty epic song. Just the music alone makes is amazing and all of the sounds and music together make for a fun listening experience. As a whole, this aspect of the game gets a 9 out of 10.
ADDICTIVENESS: 9/10
The game is a lot of fun and there’s so much for you to do. Forget the large assortment of main quests and side quests, I sometimes find myself just roaming the world freely just to attack monsters and collect items without even furthering the story because it’s a lot of fun. Well, that’s pretty much everything the game is about, but it’s a lot of fun. Being able to get your own creatures and have them battle alongside you as well as creating and using hundreds of different abilities makes each adventure different than the last and gives you something fun and different to do each and every time you play. The game is really addicting, there will be times where you find yourself doing the same thing over and over just because it’s fun, and for a grade, addictiveness is going to get another 9 out of 10.
STORY: 7/10
The game revolves around Explorers (duh) who are these fighters who search for crystals which basically are really important but of course the crystals are guarded by various monsters across the island both big and even bigger. That’s really all there is to it, taking on various quests while trying to get the crystals. Overall for the story, this game gets a 7 out of 10.
DEPTH: 10/10
This game pretty much has more depth than you can imagine. First of all you have the number of creatures, which there’s a ton of. Not only are there dozens of different monsters for you to battle, but eventually you can create these same monsters and have them fight alongside you. You can have up to 3 monsters and you can level them up as well so the number of possible combinations and strengths so just messing with the monster creations will leave you with a few hours worth of playing. That’s only the beginning though because there’s still so much more to the game, you have sooooooo many different quests to take on, both main quests and sub quests and beyond that you also have literally hundreds of different jobs and abilities to work with. The game has so much to do, and I read in a few places that the just doing the main aspects of the game will take you anywhere from 100 to 200 hours at the least. I barely racked up 20 hours but I believe that as I barely even scratched the surface of the game. The game has a lot for you to do and for a grade, depth gets a perfect 10 out of 10.
DIFFICULTY: 5
The game can be quite difficulty at times, especially if you don’t have the right equipment and abilities, but for the most part, all you need is to be paitent and have enough items to restore health. If you can do that, no matter how strong a monster is, you will always beat them, it will just take a really long time. There was one really tough boss monster I was fighting and all I could do was come in and get a few attacks in, get knocked around a bit and retreat, and I had to keep repeating this for about half an hour until I finally killed it. If you were in that situation, you could either do that or you could quite, grind a lot so you can get better weapons and abilities and then try again. It’s easy as long as you are patient and never stop. For the most part, I’ll say that the game is right in the middle when it comes to difficulty and gets a 5.
OVERALL: 8.8/10
As I had said earlier, this is one of just two Final Fantasy games that I actually like, and I don’t just like the game, I love it. It has so much for you to do, and from what I have personally seen, it’s a nice twist from what other Final Fantasy games are like. If you have a 2/3DS and like Final Fantasy, then this is a game that I suggest you try out. It’s definitely worth the price, no matter where you get it from because you will end up being immersed in the game play for many hours having a really good time. It’s a lot of fun and for an overall grade, Final Fantasy Explorers is going to get an 8.8 out of 10.
Graphics
8 Sound
9 Addictive
9 Depth
10 Story
7 Difficulty
5
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